The Aam Aadmi Party government has reportedly refused to implement the Ayushman Bharat healthcare scheme until its name is changed. As per reports, the party wants the scheme to be named as ‘Mukhya Mantri Aam Aadmi Swasthya Bima Yojna-Ayushman Bharat’.
As per reports, the AAP also thinks that the coverage of 20 million people under this scheme is not enough and it wants to add another 50 million beneficiaries to it. The AAP government has also put the renaming of the scheme as a condition for implementation. The central government reportedly has refused to entertain such demands.
CEO of Ayushman Bharat Dr Indu Bhushan has reportedly stated that the states can keep the scheme state specific but it is a national program and its national outlook will be given a priority. She also mentioned that the AAP government is expected to revert on the issue soon. The Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has reportedly rejected the Delhi government’s proposal and a senior official has been quoted as stating the Ayushman Bharat scheme is an ambitious project by PM Modi which aims to provide quality healthcare for the people of India and it should not be moulded into a political vendetta.
PM Modi had announced a budget provision of Rs 10,000 crores for this scheme and it is scheduled to roll out from September 25th.
It is notable here that when the scheme was initially announced, the AAP had rejected it saying they will bring their own health insurance scheme. AAP had argued that the scheme is based on the socio-economic census of 2011 and it does not accurately include the number of beneficiaries that should be included in Delhi. The Ayushman Bharat scheme launched by the centre aims to provide health insurance of Rs 5 lakh to 10 crore families in the country. Under the scheme, 40% of the cost will be borne by the state and the rest by the central government. Some of the states were unwilling to join the national scheme. While Odisha has already come up with its own healthcare scheme for 70 lakh people that offers Rs 5 lakhs in health insurance to men and rs 7 lakhs to women, Delhi had failed to come up with its own scheme despite its claims.
It is notable here that the Ayushman Bharat is considered as the biggest universal healthcare scheme in the world. It plans to provide poor families with cashless insurance protection of Rs 5 lakh per year and is aimed at including 500 million Indians.
The AAP seems to have developed a sudden obsession with names. Earlier this week it was reported that it has made its leader Atishi Marlena drop her surname as it was deemed ‘too Christian’ for contesting elections. Recently estranged AAP leader Ashutosh has also claimed that during the 2014 elections the party forced him to use his surname against his wishes to appeal to his caste base.
